149

149
DREW
I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel as I drove up the long driveway that led to Tyson’s house. He had sent me a message late last night to tell me that Camille was safe and watching movies with Trinity and
Haley.
Getting that message had knocked the air out of me. She was supposed to be at my house working through her fears with me. At least, that was the way it would work in a perfect world without either of us being damaged.
However, I was starting to see that I wasn’t damaged beyond repair.
Tyson was sitting on the front porch and sipping a mug of coffee when I pulled up. Steam from the mug rose in a spiral as Tyson stood up and walked down to the driveway to greet me.
“You know, she cried herself to sleep last night. After she went to bed, I was still up. I walked by her room and I could hear her crying,” Tyson said as soon as I got out of the parked car.
Guilt gnawed at me as I ran a hand through my hair. I knew there were dark circles under my eyes. Since the day she left, I had barely slept. There was nobody to blame but myself.
“I don’t like hearing that,” I said as I looked at him. “I never wanted to hurt her like this.”
“Listen.” Tyson glanced over his shoulder at the house. “I am the king of fucking things up royally. Haley hid an entire child from me. Leigh kicked both of our asses until we were able to get past our shit. Now, it’s your turn for an ass-kicking.”
I chuckled but I felt the pit in the bottom of my stomach growing. As I looked at the house, I wondered what I was going to say to Camille. Even though I’d had hours to think about it on the drive here, I still hadn’t figured it out.
“Is she awake now?”
Tyson shrugged. “Maybe. I do know that Haley took Trinity out for skating lessons about an hour ago. She’s not due back for another hour. I have to head into town and do the grocery shopping.”
“Thank you.”
Tyson nodded and jerked his chin toward the house. “Go fix your mess and don’t break her heart again.”
“I won’t.”
With each step I took toward the house, I was more worried than ever that Camille was going to tell me to turn around and get back in the car. She would have every right to.
When I walked into the house, I could hear her humming to herself in the kitchen. I made my way to her, my heart hammering in my chest with every step. Camille looked up as I entered the kitchen and the small smile on her face dropped.
“What are you doing here?”
I shrugged and tucked my hands into my pockets. “You know what? Most
days I don’t know. I have no clue why the hell you ever decided to give me a chance. I know that I don’t deserve it.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” she said. She swallowed hard and looked away from me, going back to cleaning the counters. “You deserve every ounce of happiness that you can get from the world but I don’t know why you keep denying yourself that.”
“You know as well as I do what it’s like to grow up knowing that being truly happy was just out of reach.”
She glanced at me and nodded. “I know.”
“I thought that I wasn’t ready to be a father. I know that I’m still not ready but I want to be. I love you and I love our girls. Even though I know I haven’t done the best job of showing that to you, I really do.”
“What happens when the next scary thing in their lives comes along? Are you going to back out of being a father then?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat that was threatening to choke me. “No. I’m going to be there for it all. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I want to be by your side, Camille.”
“I’m worried that you’re going to walk away again.”
She looked up at me with shining eyes. I closed the distance between us and pulled her into a tight hug. Camille pressed her face into my chest as sobs shook her body. I held her tighter as she cried, my hand running up and down her back.
“I’m not going anywhere. I love you, Camille.”
“Is that enough?” She tilted her face back and looked at me.
“I want to show you something.” I let go of her and instead took her hand. “Come with me.”
“I don’t know, Drew.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Where are we?” Camille asked several hours later.
We were just outside of the city, but I had driven her around a few times to confuse her. About an hour ago, I’d sent a text to Tyson telling him not to expect Camille to come back.
Though I wasn’t sure that she would be staying with me, I wasn’t going to ask her to make the drive back to Tyson’s tonight. If she didn’t want to spend the evening with me, talking about whatever came next for us, I would put her up in a nice hotel. I could hire a driver to take her back in the morning or charter a private plane.
I pulled off the highway and drove down the main road until we were in the middle of the small town. Camille’s gaze was glued on the little shops that surrounded us as I left the main area of town and headed toward the housing that circled the center of town.
“Well, I’ve been thinking over the past few days that the city isn’t the best place to raise a child. Our children deserve a giant backyard with a lot of kids in the neighborhood. They deserve a good school. A place where they can come home after school and bring all their friends.”
I took a couple more turns before stopping in front of a pale blue house. It stood nearly three stories tall. There was a massive front yard, but I couldn’t wait until Camille saw the backyard.
As I parked in the driveway, she looked over at me. She shook her head and looked back at the house.
“Drew, tell me that you did not buy another house.”
“We’re only forty minutes from the city. I can still get to work easily every day. You can too.”
“Why the hell would you buy another house?” she asked as we got out of the car. “There was nothing wrong with your house in the city.”
“There wasn’t much right with it either. The school district wasn’t the best one. There were no other children in the neighborhood. This house has great schools nearby and there are a bunch of other families.”
Camille looked over her shoulder at me as she made her way to the house. “I’m still upset with you.”
I chuckled and followed her, pressing a kiss to her temple before unlocking the door.
“I want this life with you and with our girls. You are the love of my life, Camille. I’m never going to take that for granted again. I know I can’t promise that I will never hurt you again, but I promise to stay when shit hits the fan. We’re a team, if you’ll have me.”
Camille glanced at the playroom directly to the right of the front door. I had already purchased a bunch of toys and books to fill the room. Everything else from the other house had already been moved in but the playroom was something that I had organized afterward.
“You did this?”
“Whether you want to be with me or not, this is a house that our daughters are going to live in. They need a space where they can play and have friends over. I figure as they grow up, we can build out the basement into a space for them and their friends.”
She nodded and pressed her lips into a thin line as she moved deeper into the house. Though we could see the neighbours from our house, there were also dozens of trees and a fence that ran along the property lines. It was a private little oasis in a neighborhood that would be perfect for our children growing up.
“You really thought about the future when you bought the house.” “There’s five bedrooms,” I said as she started climbing the stairs to the
second floor. “A massive basement waiting to be finished, there’s one office space on the first floor, and there’s another office space on the third floor.”
“And this is where you picture us living?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at me.
“Yeah.”
She turned around to face me when she got to the second floor. “Well, then I have one question for you.”
“Oh?” My heart was racing as the corner of her mouth turned upward in a slight smile.
“Yeah. Where’s our bedroom?”
I laughed and took her hand, pulling her to the next set of stairs. She laughed as we raced up them like horny teenagers and headed straight into our bedroom.
It didn’t take long for the clothes to start falling to the floor. Both of us had been missing each other for far too long.
When the last of Camille’s clothing hit the floor, my breath caught in my throat. She moved to cover herself up and turn away but I stepped forward and grabbed her hands, pushing her back against a wall and pinning them above her head.
“You look incredible. Never hide yourself from me,” I said, my tone husky
as I lowered my head to nip at the sensitive skin of her neck. Her bump was even bigger now and I ran my hand over the smooth skin following the downward curve of her belly.
I slipped one hand between her legs as she moaned, my fingers sliding through her wet slit as I coated myself in her juices. Her hips bucked as I pushed my fingers inside while my thumb rubbed her clit in slow circles.
Camille moaned, her hips tilting forward and rocking in time with my fingers as I thrust in and out of her. I captured her mouth in a kiss, our tongues moving together. She struggled against my grip, her inner walls clenching around me when I dug my fingers into her wrists.
“On the bed,” I said, letting go of her wrists and stepping back.
She walked to the bed, a confident sway in her step. I stroked my cock as I watched her get on the bed, appreciating her new curves. Camille propped herself up on her forearms and looked at me, her eyes hooded.
I crawled up the bed, kneeling between her legs. Camille hooked a leg around my waist, rolling her hips until the head of my cock was at her entrance.
“Not yet,” I said, bracing myself above her.
Her back arched off the bed as I took one of her hardened peaks into my mouth. Camille’s leg tightened around my hip as I flattened my tongue before flicking it. Camille’s moans filled the room as I switched back and forth between her nipples, driving her crazy.
“Fuck, I need you now,” Camille said, her voice raspy as I kissed my way down her body.
“Have patience.”
I circled her clit with my tongue as I drove two fingers in her. Her inner walls quivered around me as I continued to work her clit in time with my
fingers. Camille’s back arched as her fingers sank into my hair. “Come for me,” I said, nipping her inner thigh.
Her wetness soaked my fingers as her pussy squeezed my fingers harder. She rode out her orgasm, her hips moving with my thrusting until her orgasm subsided.
As soon as she was still, I moved back up her body and entered her in one thrust. I moaned as I sank into her wet heat, rolling my hips and pushing myself deeper into her. She hooked her legs around my hips, locking them together behind my back.
Her pussy milked my cock as I thrust harder, watching as she played with her nipples. She rolled the buds between her fingers, looking up at me with heat in her eyes.
It was the look on her face and the way she toyed with herself that had me grabbing her hips and driving into her hard and fast. Camille’s back arched and her legs locked tighter around my waist.
My cock throbbed as her pussy clenched around my cock. She coated my cock with her wetness, riding out her orgasm as my own ran through me.
When I finally fell to the bed beside her, my chest was heaving and my skin was soaked with sweat.
I looked over at her with a small smile. “What do you say we go try out that new bathtub?”
Her eyes lit up. “There’s a bathtub?”
Chuckling, I got up and took her hands, pulling her to her feet. I kissed her softly before leading her to the bathroom.
There was still a lot more that we needed to talk about, but tonight I was willing to take whatever she was willing to give.